SternisheFan writes: What should the future of our space program be? The National Research Council had unpleasant medicine for NASA in its just-released report on the vision and direction of the agency. A panel of 12 independent experts concluded, among other things, that the program lacks clear direction from the White House and Congress about what its goals should be, and that NASA cannot do everything it aims to without more money. More cash is an unlikely prospect in the current economic climate, the panel also said. So the government and the agency have to decide what they want NASA to focus on. The report made for “rather grim reading,” one space policy expert, Scott Pace of George Washington University, told The Times.
So what should NASA's mission be? Do scientists and the public care about sending astronauts to an asteroid by 2025? Is it realistic to send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s? Are we focusing too much on Mars? Opinions on that vary, as our article noted. Here's an interview with space exploration enthusiast Bill Nye (of “Science Guy” fame), the chief executive of The Planetary Society.